I'm not sure how that's relevant, but I have a 4S 64 GB, bought in the U.S. for $850 plus tax. It would have been more expensive in China. China Unicom will subsidize part of the cost of an iPhone, but only if you sign up for one of the more expensive plans.

Although I'm sure this story's BS, the whole upgrade route is something to think about.
Apple's been down this road before as they lost the PC market to lower-cost competitors. Even when someone was ready to move up to a high-end PC, it was too late. The consumer was already used to Windows, had invested in applications, and perhaps even more importantly, the Mac's low market share led to a dearth of applications.
It could happen again in the phone market if Apple...

Data plans aren't bad in China. I pay about $5 a month for a plan with 150 MB of data and 50 minutes of outgoing voice. But the phone itself is definitely unaffordable for most people. When people see my iPhone, they often say to me "you must be rich!"

The biggest complaint I've heard about iOS is that it doesn't include a T9 keyboard (and unlike Android, there is no way to add keyboards). Some Chinese apps provide their own T9 keyboard, but this is far from ideal.

Oh, I doubt that. Only us home theater enthusiasts don't use their TV's built-in speakers.I have visited many people who have their TVs hooked up to an external sound system, but almost without fail the receiver is switched off and they are using the (increasingly inferior) internal speakers.